Kazakhstan as CIS chair can develop Commonwealth’s potential — Putin

MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that Kazakhstan, which is chairing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 2015, will be able to maintain and develop the Commonwealth’s potential.

“Our common task is to maintain and develop the creative potential of the CIS, to have a practical feedback from the multilateral cooperation for every member of the Commonwealth. I am convinced, next chairman — Kazakhstan — will work exactly this way,” the Russian president, said promising from his side assistance and support in that matter to Astana.

While commenting on cooperation inside the CIS, Putin also noted active cooperation developing in the law enforcement sphere. The member countries have drafted several documents on cooperation between border services, financial investigative authorities, and on measures to fight illegal migration and human trafficking.

“We believe it necessary to improve coordination in fighting against drug trafficking, especially in the context of growing opiates production in Afghanistan. We appreciate the support of the Russian initiative to adopt at this summit a statement on maintaining and developing the international system for control over drugs,” the Russian president said.

Kazakhstan will host a next CIS summit in the fourth quarter of 2015, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said. “We decided to hold the next CIS summit in the fourth quarter of 2015, the foreign ministries are negotiating the exact date,” he said. Kazakhstan will take over CIS presidency from Belarus in 2015.